Sunday, January 04, 2009

Jerel McNeal set a career record, hitting 7 for 7 from behind the arc, finishing 8 of 9, 26 points, 5 boards and 6 assists in 31 efficient minutes to lead the Warriors to a 84-50 beat down of the Bearcats. To borrow a 1990s phrase: McNeal was en fuego.

Wes added 17, and Lazar had 16 (in 20 short minutes!)

Jimmy Butler saw extended playing time, as Lazar picked up his 2nd foul in the first 6 minutes, forcing Coach Buzz to use Butler until the half.

Marquette led by 14 at the half, but within 7 minutes of the 2nd half, had pushed the lead to 30, and Cincy's effort dwindled. This enormous lead enabled Buzz to play Otule extensively in the final 15, and Fulce in the final 5. Even doghoused Coobie got in for the final 9 minutes, although he never chucked up even one shot.

In short, Marquette won by shooting a blistering 54% from the field, and an amazing 60% from behind the arc. Shoot like that, and the sky is the limit.

Agree on Otule and hope Buzz is just trying to keep the pressure off him and not repeat Crean's mistake of making it Burke vs. Barro last year.

On the last news, not only did ESPN Power rankings move us up to 21st BEFORE the Cincy win, but Pomeroy just updated for today's game. In just over a week, we have moved from 63rd place and projected to go 19-12 with maybe one extra win, to 24th and going 22-9 with a ceiling of 25-6. The only games that Pomeroy calculates we have a less than 33% chance of winning the rest of the way are West Virginia next Saturday at home, then at GTown Feb. 21, at Louisville March 1 and at Pitt March 4. His calculations also now say that none of his projected wins for us the rest of the year are shaky, giving us a 70% of better chance of winning the other 9 games.

Hopefully AP and ESPN coaches poll will also move us up several spots. WVU should also be ranked in both and they look really good. I'm know we can't look past any road game (Rutgers), but if we can beat WVU Saturday the sky is really the limit.

Otule looked promising. Hazel even showed some nice ability, and Jimmy Butler put in another tough game -- his defensive footwork looked better than it has all year.

We know what we'll get from the starters, but it's the development of the bench and the bigs that will dictate whether or not this team should be among the top five in the Big East this year. Great to see those three make strides with each opportunity they get.

The outcomes of the Nova and Cincy games weren't surprising, but as always, it's how they won that's encouraging. Let's avoid a letdown Wednesday and keep this going.

Stats are ok, but just goes to show that they predict nothing in the future. What is also funny is the expectation poll on this blog. Before the Villanova game 2:1 said they were lowering our season expectations. Now it is 2:1in favor of not lowering it. I kind of pity the folks that get all caught up in the stats and poll rankings. It is done on the court every game.